Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Lucia Puenzo
Starring: Carolina Pelleritti | Germán Palacios | Inés Efron | Martín Piroyansky | Ricardo Darín | Valeria Bertuccelli
Bruce says: “In film, difficult subject matter is always a favorite domain of mine providing it is in good hands. With XXY, director Lucia Puenzo – daughter of Luis Puenxo whose THE OFFICIAL STORY is perhaps the most famous film
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.8 cats
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Evan Rachel Wood | Marisa Tomei | Mark Margolis | Mickey Rourke | Todd Barry
Gil & Amanda say: “Comeback of the year! Mickey Rourke is Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson, a washed-up professional wrestler whose glory days are long-gone. Instead of playing to sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden, Robinson must now settle for wrestling
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Aditya Assarat
Starring: Anchalee Saisoontorn | Supphasit Kansen
Bruce says: “**SPOILERS** “WONDERFUL TOWN is a good example of a film well-executed but ill-conceived. I may be partially at fault for not properly managing my expectations but WONDERFUL TOWN takes an unforeseen turn that I find unforgiving. “Ton is
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Guy Maddin
Starring: Ann Savage | Cory Cassidy | Darcy Fehr | Louis Negin
Michael says: “What a delightful evening in the Wintergarden theatre spent enjoying the world premiere of Guy Maddin’s pseudo-documentary MY WINNIPEG. Maddin was challenged by the Documentary channel to make a doc on his hometown of Winnipeg, and Maddin being
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Celia Maysles
Bruce says: “Albert and David Maysles were trailblazers in documentary filmmaking. Their cinema verité style has been adopted by countless filmmakers laboring in their wake. GREY GARDENS, voted as the #1 Documentary Film among Chlotrudis members, is one of the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Balthasar Kormákur
Starring: Hilmir Snær Guðnason | Laufey Elíasdóttir | Margrét Vilhjálmsdóttir | Ólafur Darri Ólafsson
Bruce says: “WHITE NIGHT WEDDING is loosely based on Chekhov’s little-known, first full length play, Ivanov. Jon (Hilmir Snær Guðnason) is a local professor who bought a house on Flatey Island, Iceland’s northernmost island, when his wife Anna was still
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Rodger Grossman
Starring: Ashton Holmes | Bijou Phillips | Noah Segan | Rick Gonzalez | Shane West | Tina Majorino
Jason says: “Music doesn’t interest me nearly as much as movies do, and I grew up on the East Coast besides, so it’s not exactly surprising that I’d never heard of short-lived (but apparently influential) Los Angeles punk band The
Read the review...By Michael Colford
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Thomas Gustafson
Starring: Judy McLane | Nathaniel David Becker | Tanner Cohen | Wendy Robie
Michael says: “Based on the short film FAIRIES (which was entered into the Chlotrudis Short Film Festival a few years ago) WERE THE WORLD MINE focuses on Timothy a young gay high school student who, after winning the role of
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Starring: Michelle Williams | Wally Dalton | Will Patton
Bruce says: “Kelly Reichardt from the looks of things is the modern chronicler of quiet desperation. WENDY AND LUCY is similar in many ways to her critically acclaimed earlier work, OLD JOY. The story is sparse, almost non-existent. There are
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Céline Sciamma
Starring: Adele Haenel | Louise Blachère | Pauline Acquart
Michael says: “This lovely French film dives deep into the world of adolescent girls and budding sexuality. Marie watches from the outside, while her friend Floriane, and the object of her desire, Anne, perform and compete in the world of
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Joshua Seftel
Starring: Dan Ackroyd | Hilary Duff | Joan Cusack | John Cusack | Marisa Tomei
Jason says: “Not really close to the thematic sequel to GROSSE POINTE BLANK that some are trying to paint it as, despite sharing John Cusack as a hitman and Joan Cusack and Dan Aykroyd in supporting roles. It’s an angrier
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.75
Director: Ari Folman
Michael says: “Just because a film’s subject matter is powerful doesn’t mean it will be well-executed. That was the situation I found with WALTZ WITH BASHIR, Ari Folman’s acclaimed, animated documentary that details the director’s quest to uncover his repressed
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Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: Elizabeth Banks | Ellen Burstyn | James Cromwell | Jeffrey Wright | Josh Brolin | Richard Dreyfuss | Scott Glenn
Bruce says: “W. works as a conversation piece; were the film hilarious, educational or consciousness raising in any way, it would have redeeming qualities. There is no apparent reason to make such a film and no reason to see it.
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Thomas McCarthy
Starring: Danai Jekesai Gurira | Haaz Sleiman | Hiam Abbass | Marian Seldes | Richard Jenkins
Michael says: “THE STATION AGENT was no fluke. Thomas McCarthy has delivered a sophomore effort that holds the possibly fleeting distinction of my favorite film of the festival so far. THE VISITOR is a ’cause’ film, focusing on the tragic
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Chris Messina | Javier Bardem | Patricia Clarkson | Penélope Cruz | Rebecca Hall | Scarlett Johansson
Bruce says: “Two girls are invited to Barcelona to spend July and August with friends Judy and Mark Nash (Patricia Clarkson and Kevin Dunn). Vicky (Rebecca Hall), whose fiancée is staying behind in New York, is working on a thesis
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Fumihiko Sori
Starring: Meisa Kuroki | Shosuke Tanihara | Yasuko Matsuyuki
Jason says: “VEXILLE has taught me not to complain about Hollywood productions that spend ‘too much’ on visual effects or expensive animation. As much as VEXILLE might have still been a mediocre action movie if an American-sized budget had been
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Christina Clausen
Bruce says: “It is hard to believe that a simple kid from an ordinary all-American middle class family in Kutztown, PA could be considered one of the great artists of his time. Keith Haring visually defined his generation ,creating a
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: Laura Dunn
Bruce says: “Laura Dunn’s intentions are well placed but the film she has made – THE UNFORESEEN – does not measure up. Dunn traces the history of development in suburban Austin, Texas – in particular a beautiful natural water area
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Rosa von Praunheim
Bruce says: “Rosa von Praunheim (his real name is Holger Mischwitzky) is now 65. When he was 57 his mother Gertrud, then 94 revealed a dark family secret, his parents were not his natural parents – he was adopted. He
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Wang Quanan
Starring: Ba'toer | Bao'lier | Nan Yu | Sen'ge
Bruce says: “Before TUYA’S MARRIAGE there were other recent films about Mongolian peasants, THE STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL and MONGOLIAN PING PONG. The landscape of the Mongolian steppes, harsh and stark, is surprisingly photogenic and the native attire is
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